Please sign up on our website www.yuppiefriday.com , and “like” our Facebook page www.facebook.com/yuppiefriday to learn about future events.

Our comfort space, Aventine, cozy, always welcoming and ready for a good happy hour.  A packed house welcomed supporters on February 3rd.  An epic moment for Yuppie Friday – as we maxed out capacity and were sad to have to turn people away at the door, but such a great way to welcome City of Dreams.  Based out of Oakland, their mission “is to help youth living in San Francisco’s low-income housing communities build brighter futures”. They developed a 2-year curriculum which integrates ’12 Life Lessons’ for youth to carry with them through life.

We had amazing support from the City of Dreams family.  Special thanks to: Jessica Thomas, Administrative Coordinator, for helping out before the event and Roxane Thompson, Executive Director, for assisting in MC duties and giving insight into what your organization does.  Our event helped “celebrate [our] mentoring program for at-risk low-income youth from the Hunter’s Point Bayview neighborhoods.”(Roxane Thompson)

With happy hour in full affect, our raffle scored some great prizes for winners like a 6 months membership from Studio Mix, tickets to Oscar Night Cocktail Party (selling quickly, so make sure to get your pre-sale tickets) supporting Variety Children’s Charity, Inna Jam (mmm…) and SnapFiesta was back again to capture all the fun.

A fantastic Yuppie Friday start to 2012 with a sold-out event, great organization, and familiar location.  Make sure to check out your photos from SnapFiesta.

Courtesy of SnapFiesta

We raised a fire truck full of toys and thousands of dollars for the toy drive.  The true Christmas spirit of our loyal Yuppie Friday patrons came through as hundreds of toys were being donated so the San Francisco Firefighters Toy Program could make sure less-fortunate children have a toy on Christmas morning. It was a great sight to see when the antique fire truck pulled away at the end of the event filled to the brim.

As a holiday treat for the Yuppies, Polkadotties was on hand to serve freshly baked cookies and milk to everyone.  Who says a warm chocolate chip cookie doesn’t go well with a gin and tonic? I’m sure Santa appreciated the ‘adult’ twist to his yearly pallet. Also on hand, SnapFiesta, who graciously donated their photo booth equipment and allowed attendees to take silly holiday pictures with Santa and the plethora of toys on hand. Check out the Yuppie Friday facebook photo album

In true YF fashion, the raffle was a nail biter amongst the crowd of people. Prizes included bottle service at Vessel, Laundry Locker service, a Hilside Bag, and of course coveted tickets to the Guardsman Tree Lot Party and the Elf Party, to name a few.

Yuppie Friday LOVES the holidays. We appreciate the support and donations from all the Yuppie Friday supporters at our event. The San Francisco Toy Program can’t thank you enough for all the amazing toys donated.  Thanks to all who contributed, helped out (Active 20/30 Girls, we love you guys), and of course Santa Claus (you know who you two are). We hope to continue this event for years to come and wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

Look for details on our coming events in February: Happy Hour on the 3rd and a special event for the Academy Awards on the 28th.

Be sure to ‘Like’ the Yuppie Friday page on Facebook and follow us @YuppieFridaySF.

New location, new charity, new friends.  And friendships are what we build on October 21st at Eve Lounge.  Our new friendship with Best Buddies connected a lot of individuals with this CA community.  They use these building blocks and bonds to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).  We were honored with special guest, Michael, a member of the community and a product of what Best Buddies provides for it.  In front of a room full of people, public speaking not being an easy feat for anyone, Michael expressed his achievements and gratitude toward the program making it easier for him to forge more connections with those around him.  From helping with job placement, education, or merely providing a welcoming space, Best Buddies sees it all.  The funding we raised enabled four Best Buddies school based pairs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Yuppie Friday is so grateful for all of OUR relationships we’ve developed in our community. Without Active 20-30, we wouldn’t have the awesome manpower to pull of these incredible events.  Our new connection with Eve, who welcomed us with a great space, drinks and DJ (definitely hit this place up for a weekend hotspot).  The raffle was a hit with long time supporters Hilside Bags, Laundry Locker, Asian Art Musuem, and Louis Latour and new prizes like tickets to the Oakland  Zoo.

Interested in volunteering or missed our event with Best Buddies? Visit their site to learn more.  And don’ forget to check out the pictures from the event!

We’re in the full swing of Indian Summer and warm weather has returned to San Francisco. It’s that time of the year when bars are a little more crowded, students are going back to school, and time for another Yuppie Friday event.  To fit the theme of school and students, we joined Oasis for Girls.  An organization whose efforts focus on middle school to high school age girls “and slightly beyond.” Their programs help them in leadership, the arts, and life skills.

Back to a friendly spot, Aventine, which is always a cozy place for our happy hour.  Active 20-30 and W-Girls were a great addition in helping us co-promote and run our event with their helpful hands selling tickets and setting up. Thank you Jennifer & Shelby for your added support and members!  We were blessed to have Jessica, the director at Oasis, with us to give a verbal tour of what Oasis for Girls is all about.

Prizes were won, Devotion cocktails were served, and the weekend started on a Yuppie Friday note.  At the end of the evening, we were able to raise funds to help Oasis open for the school year to continue giving the girls in the community the support for growth, leadership, and beyond. Please sign up on our email list to learn about upcoming events.

Our first round-table event was born.  We gathered leaders from other bay area non-profits to create a mini think tank on how organizations could expand beyond their networks.

The players:

Stacy Rackusin – Yuppie Friday, Vice President

Starr Spangler – W Girls, President

Shannon LeCompte – College Track, College Success Director

Casey Scollin – Catholic Charities, Jr. Board President

Gladys Pelesauma – Philanthro, President

Rebecca Simonitsch – One Home Many Hopes, San Francisco Regional Leader

Jordan Angel – Yuppie Friday, President

Meghan Mortensen – California Academy of Sciences, Director of Annual Fund and Operations

Paige Daugherty – Yuppie Friday, Director of Marketing

Some great ideas were born and it was a great way for the veteran organizations to share their experiences with the younger ones.  Suggestions as simple as doing a quick craigslist post from Star (W Girls), actually brought majority of her core members to start up the Bay Area chapter.  Meghan  (Academy of Science) has poured time and energy into really understanding the demographic the museum is trying to reach.  It’s not just about bringing people and numbers to an event or organization but really important to bring the RIGHT ones.  And, as the conversation evolved, it became apparent that keeping the current members engaged is as important as finding new ones.

Over delicious food, wine, and people, we established new networks and a desire for more round tables to bring together ideas and people in the San Francisco non-profit community.

Special thanks to: Taraya Restaurant for hosting us and everyone who joined.

If you are part of local bay area charity and would like to be invited to our next Roundtable or have topic ideas, please email Jordan@yuppiefriday.com

Pirate supplies, a super hero lair, a time travel mart and …writing? That’s right, writing. AND tutoring. 826 Valencia introduces a creative way to help kids 6 – 18 improve their writing skills. Posing as a Pirate supplies store front, 826 has a learning center ‘behind the curtain’ where students receive help with their homework and opportunities to have their work published by the on site publishing company.

Last month, Yuppie Friday paired up with 826 at Monroe for a happy hour of drinks, education, and fun. Interns showed up sharing their experiences and Anne Farrah, Development Director, explained it’s not just about the money raised, but the people giving their time to create the 1:1 student to tutor ratio that is so important in improving these students skills. Time truly is money to 826. With over 1,600 volunteers and 6,000+ students per year, they are always looking for more.

Starting out in San Francisco with the pirate supplies store, this non-profit has expanded to other locations with unique themes (Super Hero Lair in Brooklyn & a Time Travel Mart in L. A.). Where the fun is up front and the fun learning continues in back.

Interested in learning more or volunteering? Visit 826valencia.com.

Up next: Yuppie Friday supporting Oasis Center for Girls, August 12th at Aventine: http://yfaugust2011.eventb​rite.com/